Bearing assembly unit and mounting therefor



May 5, 1931. RQBQTT I 1,803,591

BEARING ASSEMBLY UNIT AND MOUNTING THEREFOR Filed Dec. 29, 1927 WWWPatented May 5, 1931 UNITEPTATES PATENT. OFFICE.

GEORGE E. BOTT, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO NORMA-HOFFMANBEAR- IN GS CORE, STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK IIBEA IRJNG ASSEMBLY UNIT MOUNTING THEREFOR This invention relates to animproved bearlng assembly unit and mounting there for, and has for itsgeneral 'bject and pur pose to simplify the construction of the bearingunit and reduce the manufacturing cost Application filed December 29,1927. Serial No. 243,301.

eral use in. connection with various mechanical apparatus, it isdesigned more particularly for use in connection with small motors suchas are used in vacuum cleaners and to this end, it is an importantconsideration that thereof, to enable the bearing unit to be easily ?thebearing assembly units for each end' of and qulckly mounted with aminimum of preparatory machine work by the user, and to provide meanswhereby the movable bearing parts are thoroughly protectedagainstaccumulations of dirt or dust before or dur-. ing the application of thebearing to 1ts operative position and whereby the bearing unit may begrease packed by the manufacturer, thus eliminating the necessity ofperiodic More particularly, it is one of the important objects of theinvention to provide a bearing assembly unit including inner and outerrace rings between which the movable bearing members are arranged, andsaid outer ring being of relatively great widthwith respect to the innerring and constituting a housing or casing for the movable bearing parts,together with end plates or closures .assembled with the wall of saidouter bearing ring and holding the enclosed bearing parts against axialdisplacement relative thereto.

It is also another object of my invention to rovide one of said closuresin the form f a anged disc to be pressed into the bore of the outerbearing ring and held by a frictional c oaction with the wall thereof"and constructed to retain a body. of grease between itself and themovable bearing parts. I

It isalso an additional object of my pres-'- ent improvements to providesuch a bearing face thereof and the wall of the bore which would resultin objectionable looseness and consequent vibration of the bearing unitand chattering metallic noise incident to contact. of the same with thesupporting member.

While the device formin the subject matter of this application is o moreor less genthe motor shaft are of identically the same construction sothat no mistake can be made by the a ent or demonstrator, in theappliparts of the unit. After the two units have thus been applied tothe ends of the motor shaft, they may then be readily mounted or fittedwithin the recesses or bores whichhave been formed in one end of themotor hous--- ing or casing and in a separate end wall or cover platetherefor.

With the above-and other objects in view,

the invention consists in the improved bear- 7 ing assembly unit andmounting therefor,

several simple and practical embodiments of my present improvements, andin which similar reference characters designate corre-' sponding 'partsthroughout. the several.

Figure 1 s a fragmentary sectional view Each of thethrough a motorhousing or casing showing the bearing assembly units as fitted u on theopposite ends .of the motor sha and mounted in operative osition,

Fig. '2 is an end e evation of the outer bearing ring;

Fig. 3 is a detail plan view of the holding or locking device for theouter bearing ring at one end of the shaft Fig. 4 is a similar view ofanother form of locking device for theouter bearing ring at the oppositeend of the shaft;

Fig. 5 is anenlarged sectional bearin used without a ball holding cage;

view of the assembly unit showing the same as p Fig. 6 is a similar viewshowing a slightly modified form of the side plates or closures and themeans for retaining the same in assenabled relation with the outerbearing ring, an Fig. 7 is a sectional view similar to Figs. 5 and 6showing the outer ring of the bearing externally provided with a sleeveof paper, fiber or similar sound deadening material.

' Referring in detail to the drawing, and more particularly to Fig. 1thereof, 5 designates the motor housing or casing which may-be of moreor less conventional form, as commonly seen for instance, in the use ofsmall motors in connection with vacuum cleaners and similar apparatus. Aclosure or cover plate 6 is provided for one end of this motor housing,any approved means being provided to retain said plate in its appliedposition. 7 designates the armature adapted to be operatively arrangedand supported within the housing 5, 8 the shaft thereof having the usualcommutator 9 at one of its ends and the fan 10 at its opposite end. Forthe purpose of receiving the bearing assembly units to be hereinafterdescribed in detail, and by which the opposite ends of the motor shaftare directly supported, the user provides the wall of the housinor'casing 5 at its closed end with an interna ly opening bore orrecessll. The cover plate 6 for the open end of the housing is formedupon its inner face with a cylindrical boss or projection which islikewise provided with a similar bore or recess 12.

For the purpose of expediting assemblage of .the parts, the bearingmanufacturer is required to supply the bearings for such motors in theform of self contained ,units which may be directly pressed upon theends of the motor shaft so that it only remains for the manufacturer ofthe vacuum cleaner or other apparatus to provide the receiving bores orrecesses 11 and 12 in which the bearing units can be easily fitted. Itis likewise re uired that such bearings shall be substantia 1y noiselessin operation, shall be free from the necessity of more or less frequentlubrication and that the cost thereof shall be comparatively low so asnot to increase the selling price of the apparatus equipped therewit Tothe above end, I provide a self contained grease packed anti-frictionbearing unit consisting of an inner race ring 13 and an outer race ring14, said inner and outer race rings being provided in their opposingfaces with the usual raceways to receive the balls or otheranti-friction bearing elements indicated at 15. It will be noted thatthe outer ring 14 is of comparatively great width.

with respect to the inner ring 13 and projects beyond the oppositesideedges of the latter so that this outer ring subserves the purpose ofa casing or housing for the movable elements of the hearing. If desired,as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, I may provide a cage 16 for thebearing balls to hold the same in spaced relation to each other, or,this cage may be omitted, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

The outer bearing ring 14 at one of its ends and at the inner facethereof is formed with an under cut annular shoulder 17 which is adaptedto be engaged by the beveled edge of a side plate 18 of resilient sheetmetal, such as brass. The normal maximum diameter of this plate isslightly less than the inner diameter of the shoulder 17 so that theplate may be readily positioned at its edge against the base of saidshoulder. By means of a suitable tool engaged against the outer face ofthe plate contiguous to its edge and the application of pressure, themarginal edge portion of the plate is swaged outwardly into tightfrictional engagement with the undercut face of said shoulder 17, thussecurely locking said plate in connection with the outer bearing rlng.This side plate 18 is of annular form and is provided at its inner edgewith an inwardly extending flange 19, the end of which is positionedclosely contiguous to one side edge of the inner bearing ring 13.

The opposite side of the housing formed by the outer bearing 14*isclosed by the side plate 20 which'is also of annular form and has aninner diameter substantially the same as the inner diameter of thesleeve or flange 19 on the plate 18. concentrically spaced inner andouter flanges 21 and 22 respectively, project from the inner side of theplate 20, said outer flange being of greater width than the inner flangeand havin its outer face accurately finished and adapted to be pressedin one end of the outer bearing ring 14 to frictionally coact with theinner surface of said ring and thus hold the plate 20 against turningmovement. The outer edge portion of the plate 20 projects beyond theouter face of the flange 22 as indicated at 23 and forms a stop shoulderabutting against the edge face of the ring 14. Thus the inner ring 13with the bearing balls are loosely positioned and held between theinwardly extending flanges of the side plates 18 and 20. It will benoted that.the internal diameter of the flanges 19 and 21 on theseplates is appreciably greater than the internal diameter of the innerbearing ring 13 so that a part of this ring extends inwardly from saidflanges.

The annular space between the flanges 21 and 22 of the side plate 20forms a pocket 24 of appreciable volume, and the bearing manufacturer inassembling the parts, packs this pocket with a suitable lubricatinggrease so that in the operation of the bearlng and in the movement ofthe inner rin 13 and the bearing elements 15, said mova 1e parts will beautomatically and continuously lubricated. Also the side plate 18 havingthe inwardly extending flange 19 provides a similar pocket,' which islikewise preferably filled with grease when the partsare assembled. Bythe provision of sucha grease packed bearing assembly unit having theside plates or closures 18 and 20, it will be evident that the movablebearing parts are thoroughly rotected both while carried stock by thecaring manufacturer, and after application to applied position by theuser in connection with the motor shaft," against en-,

trance of grit, dust and dirt, would tend to produce frictionalresistance resulting in excessive wear.

accuracy by the user of such assembled bearing units in the formation ofthe bores or'recesses 11 and 12 in the housing or casing parts and atthe same time prevent rotational move- W curely lock and hold the outerbearing rings in fixed relation to said shaft and the housing parts uponwhich they are supported.

At the fan end of the shaft. I provide the locking device illustrated inFig. 3 of the drawings which consists of a, stamped plate 25 ofresilient sheet metal having a central shaft receiving opening and anannular laterally deflected or bowed portion 26 adjacent to saidopening. The outer edge of this plate is recessed or cut away at spacedintervals and the intervening parts thereof are provided with thetapering lugs or fingers 27 projecting at approximately right angles tothe plane of the plate. lhe end face of 41% the bearing ring 14 1sprovided with a plurality of equi-dlstantly spaced radially disposednotches or grooves 28 ada ted to receive the ends of the respective ugsor fingers 27. s v 1 At the commutator end of the motor shaft,

a somewhat diderent form cit-locking member is employed. As shown in Fi4 of the drawings, this member consists o a spider shaped late 29 ofresilient-sheet metal hav- I ing a p urality of radially extending arms.

Alternate arms 30 have their intermediate portions laterally bent orbowed and tea minate in the ngularly projecting rectangu lar lugs 31. Te remaining arms 32 also have their intermediate portions bent or bowedto a somewhat greater extent than the arms 30 and terminate in thelaterally pro'ecting tapering lugs 33. As will be note from reference toFig. 4, the lu s 31 of the arms 85 30 are located outwardly o the. planeof the 11 order to obviate the necessity of great lugs 33, and as'willbe observed from reference to Fig.1 of the drawings, the lugs 33 projectlaterally with respect to the plane of the central part of the member 29beyond the end edges of the lugs 31. These taper ing lugs 33 areadapted'to resiliently bear against the end face of the bearing ring 14and to engage in the grooves or channels 28 thereof and act to ad ustthe outer bearing ring with respect to the wall of the bore in'which itis mounted and also to prevent turning movement ofsaid ring while thelugs 31 are adapted'to frictionally bind against the wall of the boreand prevent turning movement of the locking-member.

In Fig. '5 of the drawings, I have shown a bearing assembly unitsubstantially iden-' tical to that above described with the exceptionthat the holding cage 16 for'the antifriction balls 15 is omitted.

In the use of the invention as above described, it will be understoodthat the bearing is supplied by the bearing manufacturer in the form ofa completely assembled unit, packed with grease and ready for mount-'ing. At the commutator end of the armature shaft, said shaft is formedwith the annular shoulder 9' and the fan 10 is secured upon the otherend of said shaft against a similar shoulder by means of the collarindicated at 10', the external diameter of said collar and the diameterof the shoulder 9 being slightly less than the diameter of the centralopening of the side plates 20 of the bearing assembly 1 unit.

Assuming that the wall of the motor housing and the closure plate 6 havebeen provided with the bores 11 and 12, the user fits one of the bearingassembly units upon each end of the motor shaft. This may be readily, 1done b simply inserting a tubular imple ment 1: rough the opening in theside plate 18 and pressinginwardly against the inner bearing ring 16,thus forcing said ring and the entire assembly; unit inwardly along themotor shaft until the inner bearing ring at one end of the shaft abutsagainst the shoulder 9 and the ring of the other gearing assembly uniton the other end of the shaft abuts against the collar 10. When soposi-" tioned, the side plates 20-of the hearing as- 1 sembly units arein clearance relation respectively to the periphery of the enlarged partof the armature shaft and the periphery of the collar 10' while theinner ring of the bear- 1 ing and the rotatable bearing elements 15 areout of'contact' with the flan es of. the side plates 20. The locking memrj29 is then placed within the bore 11 of the wall of the I motorhousing 5, the lugs 31 frictionally engagingthe wall thereof, and thehearing assembly unit on' the commutator end of the armature shaft isinserted'into said bore.

The pressure of the outer bearing rin' onthe angular lugs 33 of thearms; 32 ten s toj radially extend or expand the arms of the member 29,the other arms 30 bearing against the base wall of the bore 11 andurging the angular lugs 31 on the outer ends thereof into tightfrictional contact against the cylindrical wall of said bore.

The cover plate 6 for the motor housing is then placed in position,after the locking member has been inserted in the bore thereof, and thebearing assembly unit on the fan end of the motor shaft is received insaid bore. The locking member 25 is also held against rotation by thefrictional gripping contact -of the lugs 27 thereof against the wall ofthe bore 12. In order for the bearing assembly units to readily enterthe bores 11 and 12; a fair tolerance must be allowed in the diametersof said bores relative to the diameter of the outer bearing ring 14.This would ordinarily result, in the operation of the motor in arotational creeping motion of the outer bearing rings which wouldproduce wear and result in a loose mounting of the bearing assembly unitcausing an objectionable metallic no1se. This is particularly the casewhere the motor housing is formed from aluminum, as is usually the casein motors of this type. However, by means of my invention, thisobjectionable creeping movement of the outer bearing rings is prevented,since in the initial operation of the motor, the outer bearing ringswill turn onlyiuntil the notches 28 in the outer side edges thereof comeinto registration with the lugs 27 and 33 of the locking members 25 and29 respectively. These lugs will then resiliently snap into said notchesor grooves and thus securely lock the outer bearing rings against anyfurther rotational movement relative to the walls of the bores 11 and12. It will thus be seen that I have provided not only a novel form andconstruction of the bearing assembly unit, but an improved mountingtherefor which enables said bearing to quietly operate at very llllfllspeeds with maximum efficiency. By provi ing the bearing units with theouter rings 14 substantially double the width of the ordinary standardbearing, the area of contact between this ring and the wall of thesupporting part in which the unit is mounted is also practicallydoubled, thus decreasing the intensity of pressure between the parts,resulting in a material decrease in wear, in the event that the bearingunit should ever be used without the resilient locking devices shown inFigs. 3 and 4 of the drawings.

If additional assurance against the development of noise in the bearingsis desired, felt washers are heretofore used may be interposedbetweenthe locking devices 25 and 1 units. If these washers are used,they should be im regnated with a lubricant, and will ma-' by agents orworkmen in 29 and the side plates of the bearing assembly From theforegoing description considered in connection with the accompanyindrawings, the construction, manner of ap lication and use of the severaladvantages 0 my imroved bearing assembly unit and the mountlng thereforwill be clearly understood. It will be notedthat the two assembly unitsto be fitted on the shaft ends are of identically the same constructionso that it is only necessary to carry one ty e of bearing assembly unitin stock, and mlstakes cannot be made fitting the bearings to the motorshaft. Also, in view of the extremely simple construction of the newbearing assembly unit, the same may be manufactured and sold atcomparatively small cost so that such grease packed bearing units may besupplied to manufacturers of vacuum cleaners and other similar apparatusfor application crease in the selling price of such apparatus. In Fig. 6of the drawings, I have shown an alternative embodiment of the bearingassembly unit, in which each of the side plates 35 is in the form of asheet metal stamping havin a central opening surrounded by the latera lyprojecting flange 36 which is of less diameter than the outer diameterof the inner bearing ring. Each of the plates 35 at its outer edgeflange 37 preferably of concave-convex shape in cross section so that itmay be readily snapped or pressed into the annular grooves 38 formed inthe outer face of the bearin ring 14 at the opposite side edges thereoIn this case, a metal ring 39 is fitted into the bore of the bearingring 14 at one side thereof to retain the bearing balls in position inthe raceway of said ring, and the space between the bearing balls, thering R 36 of the side plate forms a grease holding pocket 40 similar tothe pocket 24 in the construction above described.

As a further assurance against the generation of, noise in the operationof the hearing, I may provide a sleeve of paper or fiber compositionmaterial surroundlng the outer bearing ring as indicated at 42 in Fig. 7of the drawin s. In case such a sound deadening or insu ating sleeve isused, the flange 23 of the side plate 20 is made of greater width thanisseen in Fig; 5 of the drawings, so that it will project beyond the outerface of the bearing ring 14 and provide an abutment with which one endedge'of the sleeve 42 is engaged so that in the insertion of theassembled hearing unit to its operative position within the bore of thehousing, said sound insulating sleeve will not shift longitudinallyrelative to the bearing ring. By the use of such, an insulating sleeve,it is apparent that there is no possibility of contact between the outerring of the bearing and the housing wall so that should any movement ofthisouter thereto without necessitating an 1nis also formed with anannular- 39 and the flange with such small motors as are used-in vacu-;

um cleaners and the like. However, it will of course, be apparent thatthe bearing units may be produced in various sizes, and in view of therelatively wide outer bearing ring, such units maybe advantageously usedin the larger sizes in connection with various other machines, andparticularly in cases Where the 2 bearing is mounted in the wall of analuminum housing or casing. 'Heretofore it hasbeen found necessary toprovide the bores of such aluminum housing walls with bushings of steelor brass in order to prevent wear due to the rotative creeping motionof; the outer bearing ring. In the use of my new bearing unit in thelarger sizes for such appli-. cations, it becomes unnecessary to providesuch bushings, in view of the extra wide outer bearing ring which willhave a maximum area of direct frictional contact with the wall of thebore. J

WhileI have above described several simple and practical embodiments ofmy present improvements, it will nevertheless be understood that theessential features thereof are susceptible of embodiment in variousother alternative structures, and I therefore, reserve the privilegeof'resorting to all such legitimate changes in the form, constructionand relative arrangement of the several parts as may be fairly embodiedwithin the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. I claim: p 1.In combination with a supporting wall having a bore, an anti-frictionbearing .unit including inner and outerjone-piece rings and a pluralityof rotatable bearing elements arranged therebetween; annular closureplates for the opposite sides of the bearing unit connected with saidouter bearing ring, and'a plate arranged within said bore having aplurality of resiliently yieldable lugs di- 'rectly bearing against oneside edge of the outer ring and adapted to coact with means bearing unitadapted for insertion in said bore and said plate having additionalresiliently yieldable arms provided with means directly engaging one endof the bearing ring to 'adjustably position thsame in said bore and holdsaid bearing ring against rotalgive movement relative to the wall of theore. I

3. An antic-friction bearing unit comprising inner and outer bearingrings provided in' their opposed circumferential faces with races toreceive anti-friction bearing elements, the bearing race in' the outerring being open at one of its lateral sides, bearing elements engaged insaid races; and an annular lubricant retaining anddust excluding plate,closing the space betweenthe inner and outer bearing rings at one sidethereof and having a cylindrical flange projecting from one side thereofadjacent its outer edge and extending longitudinally in frictionalcontact with the inner face of the outer bearing ring and projectinginwardly therefrom at the open side-of the race in said bearing ring andadjacent to the bearing elements to close the open side of-the race andprevent axial shifting movement of the outer ring and the bearingelements relative to each other.

4. An anti-friction bearing unit comprising inner and outer bearingrings having races in their opposed faces to receive antifrictionbearing elements, the race in the outer ring being-open at one of itslateral sides and said ring from the open side of the race to one endedge of the ring being counterbored, anti-friction elements engaged.

in said races; a lubricant retaining and dust excluding plate fixedatits outer,edge to the outer bearing ring and terminating atits inneredge in clearance relation to the inner bearing ring and apart extendingaxially and inwardly from the inner face of said plate frictionallyengaged with the face of the count'erbore in the outer bearing ring andclosing the open side .of the race therein to prevent axial shiftingmovement of said bearing ring and the anti-friction bearing elementsrelative to each other.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signedmy name hereto.

GEORGE R. BQTT.

